Work Text:
1996
SATURDAY, JULY 20
The first person on set who catches her eye is some boy with a buzzcut. He has a big, toothy smile and for someone who’s not really into that kind of thing, she sure is captivated.
Between then and the time the first camera’s rolling, she remembers his name. Recognizes his face. Wants to tell him he looks ridiculous with his black-dyed hair and that the light blue fit him much better.
She doesn’t actually tell him.
He introduces himself to her with a “Hey, Kayama, right?” at the end of the day, an extended hand, a grin, and an, “Oboro Shirakumo. I don’t think we’ve formally met yet.”
And when she says, “Nemuri Kayama,” she finds out that Oboro Shirakumo’s handshake is death-grip firm.
FRIDAY, JULY 26
Musutafu Daily Tribune
Danjura Tobita’s ‘Loud Cloud’ Has Begun Filming
7/26/96
On Saturday, July 20, the screen adaptation of Danjura Tobita's famed novel Loud Cloud , directed by Koichi Haimawari, began filming. The film stars Oboro Shirakumo as the titular Loud Cloud, Nemuri Kayama as Miss Midnight, and Naomasa Tsukauchi as Sheriff Usochi.
At just 18, while lead Shirakumo is an unknown, he is certainly a force to be reckoned with. “I’m very lucky to be given this opportunity,” he told a reporter on Wednesday, “and I’m grateful beyond words for Haimawari.”
With that said, one question stands: will the cast live up to our expectations?
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13
Throughout the year, Nemuri has learned many things, the most important being:
- How aggravating all these “famous” men are. They are much more difficult to withstand than she ever could have imagined.
- How it feels to sleep really, really good after a late-night shoot.
- Oboro Shirakumo does not listen when you ask him to stop knocking on your door, and he doesn't care if you’re awake, asleep, fixing your makeup in your trailer, changing in your hotel room, or whatever else you’re doing. If Oboro Shirakumo wants to ask you a question or tell you a joke or say anything at all to you, there is no way in hell he will give up.
She learned the first two fairly quickly. She learned the third even quicker. So: the loud banging on her wreath-adorned front door doesn’t come as a shock to her. Oboro knocks and knocks and his right arm punches through the open doorway when Nemuri finally gives in.
“What is wrong with you?”
“I have an offer,” Oboro says, wool-gloved hand outstretched in a five-finger stop signal and a sticky note between his middle and index fingers.
Nemuri takes the note and smacks his hand down. “Yeah, me too.”
“Are you—”
“Me first. Leave.”
Oboro invites himself in, clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth on his way past Nemuri. Oh, Oboro, you beauty of nature.
“Are you busy tonight?” Oboro asks her. His cheeks are rosy from the December chill.
While Nemuri closes the door and reads the note, she says, “Depends on why you’re asking.”
(The note reads, Aldera Jr @ 6:30? -Shirakumo )
“Well,” Oboro says, hands shoved into his jacket pockets with the thumbs sticking out, “I have a family friend who’s playing at his school orchestra recital… yeah, yeah, he’s a kid, but hear me out, okay?”
Nemuri catches sight of his (off-center) cross necklace.
He continues. “I think it would be a fun thing to go to. Calm before the storm, you know? Calm before April.”
“Are you religious?” she asks, moving closer to him and centering the cross.
“Only for Christmas.”
“Makes sense.”
“So, orchestra?”
Nemuri taps the side of his nose. “Orchestra.”
Oboro’s entire face lights up, and it occurs to Nemuri that he is the most beautiful boy she’s ever seen — not in that way, but… his smile fills the entire room. He’s a star. He’s perfect. He’s Oboro Shirakumo and he’s on fire. Even in winter.
He says, “Does six work to come get you?”
“Six works.”
“Okay.” Oboro smiles wider. “Seriously, thank you so much, Nemuri.” And on his way out of her house: “The kid’s really good!”
(Nemuri learns a fourth important thing at exactly 6:00: Oboro Shirakumo is true to his word and very punctual.)
1997
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 1
CALL TRANSCRIPTION
INCOMING: OBORO SHIRAKUMO, 6:51 PM
NEMURI KAYAMA: Hi Oboro.
OBORO SHIRAKUMO: Hi.
NK: Miss me already?
OS: How could I not?
NK: You flatter me. [yawn] Truly.
OS: [silence]
NK: What’s wrong?
OS: Nothing.
NK: Well, something is definitely up, so you better spill it right now or else I’m coming over.
OS: Can I ask you something?
NK: Of course.
OS: If I, uh, if I’d…
NK: Spit it out, cloud boy.
OS: If I had kissed you last night, with New Years happening and all, would you have, um…
NK: [silence]
OS: I’m only asking because I don’t know if—if—I don’t like—I don’t know if I was supposed to or not.
NK: [silence]
OS: And I don’t know if you wanted me to or not and I really… I just wanna know.
NK: [silence]
OS: Please say something.
NK: Oboro.
OS: Yeah?
NK: I don’t like you. Not like that.
OS: Oh, thank god.
NK: [silence]
OS: Sorry. I don’t like you like that either. I’m just relieved. That’s all.
NK: Oboro?
OS: Yeah?
NK: Can I tell you something?
OS: Always.
NK: No, I mean, can I… tell you something?
OS: ‘Course you can.
NK: Can you promise you won’t say a word about it to anyone?
OS: I can do that. I’m sure whatever it is isn’t as embarrassing as what I said.
NK: It wasn’t embarrassing.
OS: It was too.
NK: Whatever, Cloudy.
OS: That’s a new one—okay, go on.
NK: You have to promise. So say it.
OS: I promise I won’t say anything.
NK: [silence]
OS: What is it?
NK: I’m gay, Oboro.
OS: Oh. Like—
NK: Lesbian. Like lesbian.
OS: Oh.
NK: Yeah.
OS: Okay. Cool. And you’re—
NK: Serious.
OS: Okay.
NK: I’m going to hang up on you now.
OS: Thanks for telling me. About the you thing, I mean.
NK: Goodbye.
OS: Bye.
FRIDAY, APRIL 4
Hosu Tonight
Koichi Haimawari’s ‘Loud Cloud’ A Commercial Success
4/4/97
You Weekly
Oboro Shirakumo: Next Hosu Heartthrob?
4/4/97
N10N Magazine
Nemuri Kayama Talks Love & 'Loud Cloud'
4/4/97
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 25
Oboro spends December filming his second movie, Vigilantes . Nemuri spends December listening to him ramble about his co-stars — namely Shouta Aizawa, who (as Oboro puts it) plays this guy who’s super duper cool and totally should’ve been a lead.
For her trouble, she gets a pat on the back in the form of a wrapped Christmas gift (in her mailbox) with a tag that says, Thanks for being my coolest friend , and the pair of beautiful burgundy heels that she’s been talking about for months but was never quite sure enough about buying.
1998
FRIDAY, AUGUST 14
CALL TRANSCRIPTION
INCOMING: OBORO SHIRAKUMO, 8:44 PM
NEMURI KAYAMA: O—
OBORO SHIRAKUMO: You know how you’re gay?
NK: Ye—yeah—excuse me?
OS: Can I ask you something? Like, ask you something?
NK: If it’s something gross, then no.
OS: Is there a word for—uh, say you’re a guy and you like girls, but you like guys—er, you think you like guys. But you really like girls. But you also…
NK: Bisexual, Oboro.
OS: Oh.
NK: Are you asking about y—
OS: Yeah.
NK: Okay.
OS: [silence]
NK: [silence]
OS: Can you say it again?
NK: Bisexual.
OS: Okay. Thank you. Bye.
NK: Bye.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6
Hosu Tonight
Oboro Shirakumo Dating ‘Loud Cloud’ Co-Star Nemuri Kayama
11/6/98
According to sources, Oboro Shirakumo is in a new relationship with his Loud Cloud co-star Nemuri Kayama. The two were reportedly spotted together on a date in Esuha City, and photos have surfaced of them holding hands.
Shirakumo and Kayama first met on the set of Loud Cloud in 1996 and have since been subject to a barrage of dating rumors. The news of their relationship comes as no shocker.
The new couple seems to be taking things slow, but they looked very happy in the photos that have been released so far. It will be interesting to see how their relationship develops in the coming months and we at HT wish them nothing but the best.
1999
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5
N10N Magazine
‘Vigilantes’ Released, Exceeds Expectations
2/5/99
2000
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 29
“Sneak into the first Tartarus showing with me on Friday,” he says. “It’ll be fun. I know someone who’ll let us in. We’ll be like secret agents.”
Nemuri scoffs. “The first one?”
“Okay, fine. Last showing on the first day. Unless you wanna be a sneaking-in virgin.”
They do, actually, sneak in.
MONDAY, MARCH 24
6 PM
RADIO TRANSCRIPT FROM The Present Mic Show
(originally aired at 8 AM)
HIZASHI YAMADA: [...] So… your first movie, Loud Cloud.
OBORO SHIRAKUMO: [laugh] Oh boy.
HY: How was that for you?
OS: I’m not quite sure I know what you mean.
HY: Yeah, let me rephrase that. You were seventeen when you were casted and eighteen when you started filming. What was that like? I mean, we’re the same age and I can’t imagine being in that position.
OS: It wasn’t what I expected. I will say that. But I don’t think those kinds of things ever go how people think they’re gonna go. Nemuri’s character was… what, early twenties? And she looks older anyway—especially then—so it worked out well for her. I did not realize she was my age when I first met her. Really, I just got lucky with everything.
HY: I think you just have the look.
OS: Oh, definitely.
HY: It’s the eyebrows.
OS: That’s what I’ve been saying! And the hair, too. I had to buzz my hair for the role and dye it all black. Let me tell you, buddy… that changes a man.
HY: You heard it here first, everybody. [laugh] A buzz cut and black hair dye changes a man.
OS: Shh. None of you heard it from me. I didn’t say that. Nemuri Kayama’s words, not mine.
HY: What a way to throw your girlfriend under the bus, Shirakumo. I’m impressed.
OS: You wound me.
HY: Careful, Shirakumo.
OS: I’m never coming back to this show.
HY: You may say that now, but—oh, would you look at that?
OS: What?
HY: Calling in from Hosu, we’ve got… Nemuri Kayama.
OS: The consequences of my actions…
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8
7:39 PM
“I’m getting a haircut as soon as it wraps,” Oboro says, setting his fork down on his plate. “I mean, I like the longer hair, but I wanna go back to how it was before Tartarus.”
Hizashi, with his mouth full of free bread, says, “You do look great with it long, though.”
“Chewers’ opinions don’t count.”
The restaurant isn’t too big and it isn’t small. It’s comfortable. The crystal chandelier overhead, however, is a bit daunting, but it’s beautiful just the same. Oboro and Hizashi make a few jokes about it falling.
It’ll get you and Shouta first, Hizashi says.
If it falls I’m using Nemuri as a shield, Oboro says.
Nemuri hopes the damn thing really does come crashing down and that the glass really does get Oboro first.
2001
JANUARY
The Hosu Reporter
Review: Oboro Shirakumo’s ‘Team Purple’
1/26/01
Hosu Tonight
Must-See Of The Week: ‘Team Purple’
1/27/01
Musutafu Daily Tribune
‘Team Purple’ Is a Box Office Hit
1/29/01
2002
SUNDAY, JULY 7
2:05 AM
NOTEBOOK ENTRY by Nemuri Kayama
I'm pretty sure Oboro is sleeping but I can’t call him anyway. I don’t want to worry him yet.
I think Kaina and I are going to break up. She's been so busy lately.
6 months isn't a very long time at all, but at least it was some time. A short song is still a song, right?
Also it is Hizashi's birthday today. Happy birthday Hizashi.
2003
FRIDAY, JANUARY 10
Hosu Tonight
Hizashi Yamada To Replace [REDACTED] As 'Night Audit' Host
1/10/03
After decades of late-night domination, it was announced tonight that iconic talk show host [REDACTED] will be replaced by radio personality Hizashi Yamada (The Present Mic Show) on February 7.
Yamada is a fresh face that is sure to bring a new energy to the late-night talk show scene. He is known for his quick wit and humor, and he is sure to keep audiences entertained with his unique perspective on the world.
We wish Yamada the best of luck in his new role!
SUNDAY, MAY 18
N10N Magazine
Oboro Shirakumo on Upcoming Project ‘Team Purple: Revolution’
5/18/03
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26
CALL TRANSCRIPTION
OUTGOING: to OBORO SHIRAKUMO, 8:01 PM
OBORO SHIRAKUMO: Hello?
NEMURI KAYAMA: Hi.
OS: Hey there. How are you?
NK: Well, I was going to go out and drink, but I thought I’d call you first.
OS: [laugh] Alcoholic.
NK: Oh my god. I’m not there yet.
OS: Yet is the key word, sweetheart.
NK: Fuck you. [laugh] I miss you.
OS: I know. I miss you too. But I’m not gone for much longer. I’ll be back before you know it.
NK: Okay, I’m going now. Be safe there.
OS: You be safer with the drinking.
NK: No promises. Bye Cloudy.
OS: Bye.
***
10:47 PM
Voicemail (outgoing; from Nemuri Kayama to Oboro Shirakumo’s AOL)
“Hi. Um, I didn’t go out for that long. I think everything’s getting old fast for me lately. Do you remember a few weeks ago when I showed up at your front door and you told me I looked like hell and I told you I had just seen the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen? Well, I saw her again at the bar. She’s a theater kind of girl. Shino something. And I… there’s something about her. I don’t know what it is.
“And there were all these men trying to talk to me and I just couldn’t handle it. Not tonight. It’s just… it’s not… this isn’t the life we’re meant to live, Oboro. It can’t be. [extended silence] If Shinji Nishiya kisses some girl he’s a dreamboat, but if I say the wrong thing to the wrong woman I’m— [sigh]
“Do you think we’ll still be doing this in ten years? Fifteen? That’s 2018. Maybe they’ll have us get married. Maybe we should have affairs. What do you think they’ll say? Do you think it’ll matter then? I hope it doesn’t. Maybe I just need to pick on Shouta right now. That would be a breath of fresh air. I’m done now. Thank you for living. I love you, Cloudy."
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27
5:22 PM
Voicemail (voice of Oboro Shirakumo)
“Hi Kayama. Just wanted to let you know that the wrap party’s over and it went okay. I just had the best chocolate chip cookie. I wish you and Shou could’ve tasted it. It was so good, Nemuri. Oh, can you tell Shou to answer my calls? I know he’s busy but it’d be nice to hear his voice. It’s been a while.
“Anyway, I was thinking about what you said yesterday and I think it’s all gonna be A-OK even if it takes a while. Don’t let the world get you down. We’re gonna be okay, you and I. And Yamada. It’s gonna be worth the wait, honey. I swear.
“You’re the sweetest girl I know, alright? And I’m gonna bring you those pancakes you like as soon as I’m back in town next week. I promise. Love you, Sunny.”
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30
7:17 PM
“Nemuri,” says Shouta, voice bleak and dried up on the other end of the phone call.
Nemuri doesn’t mute her TV. She doesn’t get up from her couch or move at all. She doesn’t throw up, but she certainly wants to. “You’re a goddamn liar, Shouta,” she says, all too warm for someone sitting in an air-conditioned room. The TV buzz rambles on, melts to a droning hum, pools in the center of the room until the loudest noise is Shouta’s fragmented breathing.
“Shouta,” she says. “Shouta, you’re lying,” she says. Shouta, say something, goddamnit , she thinks. When Shouta’s phone falls — onto something hard, like a floor or a countertop — it becomes real. When she bites her lower lip to contain everything, Shouta’s strangled whimper bleeds through her phone’s speaker and it takes everything in her to not throw the damn device across the room. And it’s a sound that rings in her head for the next few hours.
It rings like her phone before the Oboro’s at Hosu General and the It was a crash . It rings like the bells in the Christmas music she plays on accident — and rips up her throat yelling at — in her car (and like the unruly radio station she switches to right away to fill the quiet.) It rings like Hosu General’s PA system and, 20 minutes later, like the buckles on Hizashi’s shoes when he steps into Oboro’s hospital room.
“Where’s Shou?” Hizashi asks, standing near the door with his hands folded in front of his body.
“His house, as far as I know,” Nemuri says. Her eyes are too dry to comfortably blink and she sits at neck-braced Oboro’s bedside, hand in stationary hand.
Hizashi takes a seat in a chair near Nemuri. “I came as fast as I could,” he says, reaching his arm around her and rubbing her arm with his thumb. “I’m sorry.”
The room is cold. Nemuri shakes her head, squeezes Oboro’s hand, lifts it up to her mouth, kisses the back… “They amputated his right arm,” she mumbles, eyes dead set on Oboro’s eyelashes. “And he’s so… he’s just broken, Hizashi.”
“I know,” Hizashi whispers, “I know.”
With an unfaltering death grip on Oboro’s hand, Nemuri leans on Hizashi. She says, “He said we’d be okay,” and when the words get caught in her scraped-from-screaming throat and her body jerks on every exhale, Hizashi only pulls her closer and rests his cheek on her head. When Shouta arrives at 9-something o’clock, though, Hizashi excuses himself and Shouta takes his chair.
Shouta doesn’t say a word, but in his defense, neither does Nemuri. However, she does pull down Oboro’s blanket to show Shouta his right arm. Everything from Oboro’s elbow down is gone and Shouta swallows down a gag. When he begins to cry — something Nemuri has never seen nor heard him do until today — Nemuri doesn’t try to comfort him, and in turn, he doesn’t try to console her when she does the same.
When he leaves at 10:30, Nemuri tells him to come back tomorrow, but says no more than that. After a brief nod, he’s gone.
Nemuri stays in the room overnight. It’s not comfortable at all, but there is no way in hell she’s leaving, so she manages. Oboro is stable, and although he remains unconscious, Nemuri thinks he is so beautiful. Even in the harsh fluorescent lighting and even with all his bruises and even with burns all over what’s left of his right arm. Even though he lays limp in a hospital bed and looks like hell, he’s perfect. Perfect, perfect, perfect.
She touches his cheeks carefully, his forehead gently, his hair with a softness you would use to hold a baby rabbit — or maybe a kitten, because Oboro loves kittens, and she loves him. And maybe he could never make her as happy as a woman would. And maybe she could never make him as happy as a real lover would. But that doesn’t make the love any less true, nor does it negate how he brushed her hair in the aftermath of a bad night out or how she kissed the top of his head when, for the first time, the world was too loud for him to bear.
They’re only twenty-four and he can’t go so soon. She kisses his knuckles and holds his palm against her cheek. He is twenty-four and a force to be reckoned with and he can’t go yet. Trick candles aren’t supposed to burn out so fast. She asks him, “How about those pancakes?” and, even if only in her imagination, he answers. She lays his hand and arm down on the bed. She rests her head on the mattress. She tells him, “I love you, Cloudy,” and, even if only in her wildest dreams, he says “Love you, Sunny,” one more time.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1
CALL TRANSCRIPTION
OUTGOING: to SHOUTA AIZAWA, 1:56 AM
SHOUTA AIZAWA: Kayama?
NEMURI KAYAMA: He’s gone.
SA: How?
NK: I’m sorry. I can’t talk to you right now.
SA: Nemuri.
NK: I have—I have to call Hizashi.
SA: Wait—
CALL TRANSCRIPTION
OUTGOING: to HIZASHI YAMADA, 1:58 AM
HIZASHI YAMADA: What happened?
NEMURI KAYAMA: [inaudible]
HY: What?
NK: Fuck—he’s dead, Yamada.
HY: Oh. [pause] Oh.
NK: I don’t—I was sleeping and nurses came in and I had to leave and then he was just gone.
HY: I’m on my way, okay?
NK: Please.
***
MBC News
Oboro Shirakumo Dies at 24
10/1/03 9:24 PM
Car crashes are one of the leading causes of death among celebrities. On Tuesday, actor Oboro Shirakumo passed away after a car crash at the age of 24. His death comes as a shock to friends, family, and fans.
Shirakumo was best known for his roles in Loud Cloud (1997), Vigilantes (1999), and Team Purple (2001). He had just finished filming the latter’s sequel, Team Purple: Revolution, at the time of his death.
On September 30th, Shirakumo was being driven home from the Hosu Airport when his vehicle and another collided head-on, resulting in an explosion. While both vehicles’ drivers were killed instantly, Shirakumo survived with sustained injuries. He was swiftly hospitalized and passed away at 1:44 AM on October 1st.
2004
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14
3:54 PM
“Yamada told me you’d be here,” Shino Sosaki says to her at a Naruhata bar.
It’s quiet here. It’s always quiet here. Or at least it has been ever since Nemuri started coming here four months ago. It’s quiet, so it’s good for her. Shouta’s the one who brought the place to her attention a year or two ago — “It’s where the older locals go,” he’d said — and she wrote down its name.
The first time she came here was in late October. The bar is family-owned and the bartender didn’t even know who she was at first. She can’t go anywhere in Hosu without getting papped, and she only can get maybe a few minutes of freedom without the cameras in Musutafu, so her best option was here.
It’s not that she wants to get away from everyone. She just… doesn’t want to be around people most days. She still goes to parties and she still does photoshoots and she’s still Nemuri Kayama, but she needs a place to get some peace of mind. And it helps that no one ever comes to Naruhata anyway.
Shino clears her throat and sits on a neighboring barstool. “Kayama.”
“What?”
“Day drinking?”
Nemuri’s glass is empty. “Only water for the last hour.” There are snowflakes melting in Shino’s hair when Nemuri looks at her. And god , she thinks, does Shino have beautiful eyes. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?” she asks her. “Like that show you’ve been doing?”
Shino shakes her head, fixes her bangs, and says, “Not until Tuesday.”
“Figures.”
“Look,” Shino says, “if you don’t want to talk to me, I’ll leave, okay?”
“No, no, it’s…” Aside from the bartender, there are two other people here. They are both middle-aged men. Nemuri taps her nails on the edge of the bar, swallows, regrets getting into the acting business (because if her celebrity ruined a good thing in 2002, it will ruin this good thing too.) She takes a shallow breath. “What the hell is a girl like you doing here?”
Shino laughs through a, “Really?” and she looks at Nemuri like she can’t believe the words that have just come out of her mouth. And it’s like something out of that TV show Oboro used to be on, the way Shino takes a folded note out of her jacket and sets it writing-up on the bar and how she smiles and says, “Looking for you, actually.” The paper’s creased and ripped at the edges, the handwriting is Hizashi’s, and it’s the address of the bar. “What about you?”
It’s an innocent question and Nemuri knows Shino means no harm by asking, but it makes a part of her ache nonetheless. She could answer it easily, but the words aren’t coming to her, so she gives Shino a pointed look and hopes she understands.
And Shino does. She presses her lips together, nods, and takes the ripped note back. “Lonely Valentine’s Day?”
“I guess you could put it that way.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.”
It’s a lonely Valentine’s Day every year. Publicist-planned dates with Oboro were just that: planned. Fake. Better than nothing, but lonely nonetheless. If given the chance and the freedom to take it, Oboro would have been with Shouta, and maybe Nemuri would’ve been with someone, too (if there were any someones to be with.) But at least with how things were with Oboro she wasn’t completely alone.
“Well, I’ve never been in your… situation, so I can’t imagine what you’ve been going through lately,” Shino begins, crossing one leg over the other, “but you don’t have to be here, you know.”
She sounds like everyone else and their pity, but she’s the Takoba stage’s Shino Sosaki, so Nemuri gives her the benefit of the doubt. “I’m not quite sure what you mean.”
“All I mean is that you don’t have to be on your own.”
Without Oboro, Nemuri doesn’t have the security she’s used to. Not in the same way. But maybe she’s better off without the safety net. With no plan to fall back on.
Shino’s, “What’s your favorite color, Nemuri?” only reinforces that.
“Burgundy.”
When Shino sets a second note on the bar, says, “Call me tomorrow,” and stands up, Nemuri thinks that this could very well be a movie and she could very well not know it.
“You planned this, didn’t you?” she says, reading the phone number on the note, smiling like a little girl with a valentine from her crush (which is pretty much how she feels.)
“Maybe a little bit. You’ll call?”
“I will.”
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15
Hizashi calls her in the afternoon. Says, “I left something at your front door.”
That is how she finds a vase of red roses with a card that says, Closest to burgundy they had. Shino.
MONDAY, JULY 26
CALL TRANSCRIPTION
INCOMING: from SHOUTA AIZAWA, 1:56 PM
NEMURI KAYAMA: Afternoon, Shouta.
SHOUTA AIZAWA: Revolution’s out on Friday.
NK: Yeah.
SA: How are you?
NK: Better than I’ve been. You?
SA: [silence]
NK: Don’t answer, then. [pause] I start a new movie soon.
SA: I heard.
NK: Wha—it—did Hizashi—it was supposed to be a surprise, Shouta!
SA: You know Hizashi can’t keep a secret.
NK: I’m gonna kill him. Hanging up now.
SA: Bye.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1
Musutafu Daily Tribune
Remembering Oboro Shirakumo One Year Later
10/1/04 7:26 AM
Hosu Tonight
Actor Shouta Aizawa on Oboro Shirakumo
10/1/04 11:06 AM
Juko News
Oboro Shirakumo: A Life in Review
10/1/04 8:44 PM
MONDAY, DECEMBER 13
8:03 PM
Voicemail (outgoing; from Nemuri Kayama to Oboro Shirakumo’s AOL)
“Hi Shirakumo. Um… just wanted to let you know that your family’s selling your house soon. They’re letting me take the voicemail box. I, uh, I called your home phone every few days for a while, so… I guess I left enough shit in the box for them to feel bad. Sometimes I think maybe you’ll answer someday. I don’t know why.
“I listen to that last voicemail you left me a lot. More than a lot. I know it wasn’t the last time I heard your voice, because we talked every day until you got on the plane, but still, Oboro. Maybe if I knew your AOL password I could hear that last one I sent you. This one, too. I’m going to find a way in someday.
“By the way… you’re still a star, Oboro. Revolution’s big. You’re about to get yourself quite a few more awards. They want me to accept anything that you win on your behalf, and I’m sure you’ll win everything. You’re still on fire, honey. I love you, cloud boy."